Category Archives: art instruction

When I have been most moved and impressed by artwork, music, or any expressive art form, it has been when the work has first grabbed my soul with its poetry, then amazed my mind in its structure and construction.

Throughout my development as a visual artist, I have found my greatest struggle in the making of art is to balance the crafting of accurate, solid forms while retaining the lyrical nature of the visual world. So often in my efforts to capture the exactness of what I am seeing, I lose the poetic beauty and essence of the elegant, peripheral line.

For me, the balance comes when I can relax enough while in the throws of building the solid structure of the forms to absorb and feel the rhythm before me. Certainly this comes with experience, but to be aware of the end goal during the early stages of development is critical in not becoming too stiff in your approach. While working and studying the subject, to feel the connectedness of the forms, the living, breathing life of our subject makes a clear difference to me in the end result. I have found that it is having faith that the poetry will come and manifest itself if I am true to the beauty and strength of the construction, being careful not to overthink the problem. Allowing all of your senses to take part in the mechanical process is the beginning of where the poetry begins.

I wish you great success as you strive to bring your paintings to life in poetic strength!

First of all, I would like to thank all who have so enthusiastically followed this blog, and would like to thank you for your patience as the posts have been less frequent lately. My intention is to begin to pick up the pace as we move into autumn.

On an interesting note, I just recently had the privilege of being interviewed by Kathryn Lloyd, founder of the Master’s Secret Summit.

While I have had numerous interviews about my artwork and my painting process, Kathryn seemed to bring out aspects and ideas that rarely surface in such a meeting. I found her questions thought provoking and hitting at the heart of what this journey of art is to me. Many other artists will be featured in this Summit as well including Burt Silverman, Arturo Garcia, Deborah Elmquist, Michelle Dunaway and Harley Brown among others.

This is such a critical topic in that so many beginning artists tend to be overly concerned with “being original”. The danger in this obsession to “have a voice” is that artists cloud or muddy their own voice, often inhibiting their true self from coming forth. I was no exception to this siren’s call and had to learn this through the years. Below are my thoughts…may they be helpful to you. 🙂

In my experience, finding my artistic voice came most naturally when I thought least about it. When I began a career as a commercial artist 25 years ago, the only virtue was to “have a style”. While that stint was very short lived, I had to divest myself of such thinking as that approach only led to hollow, superficial works. While these commercial works were eye catching and trendy, they lacked soul and meaning. Rather, when I entered the fine art realm, I was very intentional to concern myself not with technique but simply recording the subject, it was then that my true voice emerged. The longer an artist works within this framework, the more authentic and original their artistic voice becomes.

In this final post analyzing the magnificent portrait by John S. Sargent, I would like to share my thoughts on his brilliance in attention to edges. I truly believe that accurate edge work is the one of the elements that separates great paintings from the good.

In Mr. Sargent’s piece, he utilized the full range of edges (softest to razor sharp), giving variety that adds great contrast, drama, and interest to the painting.

Notice how he has taken great care in modeling the transitions on the features of the face so as to soften them down so that the edges on the construction of the nose, eye sockets, brow line, and anatomy around the mouth did not compete with the razor sharp quality of the strongest, peripheral edge.

Again, as we see in this case, the sharpest edges presented themselves along the peripheral edge of the face (aside from the stark sharpness of the rims on the glasses). In my experience teaching painting, I have seen many students wary of putting the hardest edge on the far side of the face for fear that the distant side will not recede, but if this is how it actually looks in the squint, (see Technical Insight #3), we must not doubt the verity of this and put the transition in as we see it.

Sargent’s “Olive Trees at Corfu” is another excellent example of the artist not being afraid to put the strongest edge on the farthest, most distant mountain, which visually had the sharpest edge. Often we have heard that we must soften distant objects, but this is not always so. How did he decide this edge relationship should be painted as such? I am sure that is how it actually looked in its true relationship. Again, it is critical to squint to see the variety, accuracy, and contrast of the edges. I would encourage you to study many of the great masters to see how their handling of edges brings their work to life. Keep Squinting!!! 🙂

I have taken the time to extensively describe these edge principles in our videos for those interested in further explanation. Click image to see more… Enjoy!

Upon further observation of this oil painting, what also caught my amazement in this portrait was Mr. Sargent’s use of color temperature to define and turn form instead value ( light and dark) in certain areas.

As I remember my own early artistic development and frequently witness it in others, there seems to be a progression to maturity in beginner’s work that follows this course in one form or another. When one first identifies that there is a form change, their first assumption is that the transition is achieved with value only. Also, this is often overstated with a value shift that is too dark creating a sunken or overly dramatic change, not accurately representing the light quality. To more accurately accomplish this, either strictly using color temperature or coupled with the slightest value shift and temperature, the form change can be much more subtle and luminous. Notice how Mr. Sargent achieved the beautiful spherical effect of the forehead by using peach tones on the frontal plane and ochre/olive tones on the far side of the forehead to spin the form with no value shift. Absolutely beautiful!!! You will also see this happening on the bridge of the nose as it turns from (orange/pink) flesh tone to the more olive note on the far side.

The next stage in the progression is that the student recognizes the color transition, but overstates it, using bright blue or viridian greens to state the coolness to turn the form. This was a great temptation for me early on. In the thrill of actually seeing the color change, I would overstate the transition, brandishing viridian so the whole world would see it too. I am so drawn to the beauty of what Sargent has done achieving a stunningly simple, solid form with the subtlest of transitions both in value and color.

I have taken the time to extensively describe these color mixing principles in our videos for those interested in further explanation. Click image to see more… Enjoy!

Recently, I came across a simply stunning portrait of a gentleman by John Singer Sargent that captured my attention. Upon studying this painting, I was reminded of some simple lessons and it is my hope to share a few of these with you in the next few blog posts.

SIMPLICITY

On first glance, I was struck by the solidity of form on the skull and the beauty and strength of the general mass of the simple form of the head. Notice that even apart from the facial features, the three-dimensionality stands out as truly believable. The simple inverted teardrop (egg shape) form of the skull is not violated by the undulation of line on the far side of the face or the by varying line of his jowl. On the near side of his face, the slight indication of the cheekbone, minimal accent on his temple, and dark accent under the chin create striking form within the simple values of the general light shape of the head.

Note that de-saturating the image gives greater clarity to the simple egg-like form that Mr. Sargent captured. In my own experience, it is critical to remind myself CONTINUALLY throughout the painting to maintain this simplicity of form, taking every opportunity to physically step back or psychologically draw back from the detail that I may be consumed with. It is so easy to lose sight of this concept as we begin to work on the detail of the features, trying to enhance the peripheral line of the face to “show more form”. Also, critical throughout is the act of squinting continually to simplify the lights and darks to see the simple form emerge. See “Technical Insight #3″ on squinting.

I look forward to sharing several more in the weeks to come!

These concepts and more are described in great detail in our video presentations. Click image to see more… Enjoy!

The inspiration for this painting arose on many levels. From a technical perspective, it was the opalescent nature of the light that drew me in and presented the challenges that sustained my drive throughout the work. Through my years of standing before a landscape bathed in light and studying great paintings depicting this light quality, I have noticed that every square inch of the canvas needs to include the full spectrum of light and color. Note these detail shots that incorporate the influence of all the primary colors.

This particular sun-bathed scene exemplifies the point with its rich blues reflecting and bouncing throughout, however, it is my objective to capture this in each of my paintings, no matter the temperature or strength of the light. The process of looking for and rendering this opalescent light quality is taught in detail in our video presentation, “The Beginning of Autumn”.

From a philosophical or emotional inspiration, the theme of “being carried” is one I surely need through the journey of this life . I cling to this promise…

“Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”